Leadership void on eve of talks

Kosovo political scene in disarray with death of president.

Kosovo political scene in disarray with death of president.

January 22, 2006

PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro (AP) -- President Ibrahim Rugova died of lung cancer Saturday, leaving Kosovo's fractious political scene in disarray just before the start of crucial talks on whether the province should gain the independence from Serbia that was his lifelong dream. His departure leaves a leadership vacuum at the most sensitive time since the Kosovo war ended in 1999. International leaders appealed for calm and unity in the disputed U.N.-administered province. The Serb government expressed fears that Rugova's successor might not share his commitment to nonviolence. The much-anticipated start of talks between ethnic Albanians and Serb officials to determine Kosovo's future had been scheduled to begin Wednesday in Vienna, Austria. But the talks were postponed until February following the death of the man who came to embody ethnic Albanian aspirations for independence. Rugova, 61, often was called the "Gandhi of the Balkans." He had been at the center of Kosovo politics for more than 15 years, leading the nonviolent struggle against repression under former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. Rugova's death comes as the restive province of 2 million embarks on a delicate process of negotiating a solution that ethnic Albanians -- a 90 percent-plus majority -- hope will end in full independence.